Sustainability Services for Appliances

Importance of sustainability for appliances

Across the globe, businesses are taking action to reduce climate change, create more circular products, provide more transparency into their global supply chains and address social impacts.

In the appliances industry, it is becoming more important every year to reduce the use of hazardous materials, reduce your products’ carbon footprint, and use renewable materials in your products and packaging. UL Solutions has the tools to help you meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability goals and differentiate your products in the crowded market. Learn more about our testing, certification and verification services below.

Restricted materials

Manufacturers, importers and retailers of electronic and electrical products must comply with a growing number of complex regulations aimed at protecting the health of people and the environment against potential risks associated with chemicals.

While the value of these efforts is clear, understanding how to meet requirements across all target markets, increasing transparency throughout the supply chain and clearly demonstrating compliance can prove to be a significant challenge.

UL Solutions can help. We offer a complete portfolio of chemical regulatory compliance services for electronic and electrical products, from design to production to disposal, to help you and your supply chain meet regulatory requirements and achieve sustainability goals.

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) verification

UL Solutions’ Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) program provides a framework for industries to define Product Category Rules (PCRs) that govern how to conduct Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) for specific product types. These LCA reports can be used to provide a public declaration of a products environmental impact. EPDs are an important tool for enabling consumers to choose lower impact products.

For product types that have not established PCRs, the most common environmental impact tracked is the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF). UL Solutions helps manufacturers accurately declare their Product Carbon Footprint by providing a third-party review against ISO 14067, the international standard for carbon footprint verification. For customers that require an even higher risk mitigation level, additional auditing can be provided.

PFAS testing and certification

The regulatory environment for PFAS is shifting rapidly, driven by increased consumer awareness, scientific concern and government scrutiny.

UL Solutions can work with manufacturers to create a Restricted Substance List (RSL) to help manage evolving chemical requirements and help prevent noncompliant products from reaching consumers.

Our core services include regulatory, industry and customer PFAS testing across the globe, as well as certification according to UL 746G, the Outline of Investigation for Non-Fluorine and Non-PFAS-Containing Materials. UL 2884, the Environmental Claim Validation Procedure for Substance Content Claims, provides a framework for evaluating and validating substance content claims, including nondetectible PFAS content claims.

We also offer training, guidance and ongoing support to help organizations stay ahead of PFAS restrictions and regulatory changes.

Packaging and recycled materials programs

ISTA package testing and certification

Packaging designed and tested for performance during transit and distribution can reduce waste associated with damaged, perishable or mishandled products that must be disposed of if the packaging is compromised. This certification can help you and your retailers have confidence that your appliances will arrive intact and undamaged.

• ISTA 1 Series Non-Simulation Integrity Performance Tests.
• ISTA 2 Series Partial Simulation Performance Tests.
• ISTA 3 Series General Simulation Performance Tests.
• ISTA 4 Series Enhanced Simulation Performance Tests.
• ISTA 6 Series Member Performance Tests.
• ISTA 7 Series Development Tests.

Sustainable materials

By reducing the virgin material used in products and packaging, manufacturers can help preserve natural resources and help achieve responsible consumption and production. In addition, the energy required to source, transport and produce packaging can leave an enormous carbon footprint and should be minimized.

We offer science-based guidance to help enable recycling such as:

• UL 2809, the Standard for Environmental Claim Validation Procedure for Recycled Content.
• UL 2789, the Standard for Environmental Claim Validation Procedure for Calculation of Estimated Recyclability Rate.
• UL 2485, the Standard for Environmental Claim Validation Procedure for Recyclability of Paper-Based Products.